1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to sputtering systems and somewhat more particularly to a method of attaching target materials existing in disc- or plate-shaped form onto cooling plates in sputtering systems.
2. Prior Art:
In typical sputtering systems, the material to be atomized is positioned onto, for example, water-cooled plates as a disc- or plate-shaped target body and thereafter impinged by an electron beam. The cooling is required to prevent an undue temperature rise of target material in the sputtering system due to the electron impingement onto such target material during the plasma discharge. In order to achieve a good cooling effect, such cooling plates are generally fabricated out of copper. However, good cooling is only attainable if a good thermal contact exists between the target body and the associated cooling plate.
Targets are known wherein the target material is "bonded" to a cooling plate via soft-solder foils. However, since most target materials are generally unsolderable, soft-solder foils only provide a slight mechanical adhesion so that during usage, target materials so-bonded to cooling plates frequently become loose, either partially or totally.